Cambodian workers temporarily barred

The Phnom Penh-based Cambodia Daily reported Friday the request had been made because the Thai side was currently conducting a census into migrants in the country. The suspension commenced on April 1 and is effective until July 29, according to a statement released on Wednesday, the newspaper said.

Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said Cambodian migrant workers already in Thailand would also have to request written permission from the Thai Labour Ministry in order to leave the country during the census, and would only be able to do so under exceptional circumstances. Sour added that workers would not be able to cross the border with a “pink card”, which allows them to work in Thailand as they await passports and visas.

“They will find it difficult to leave Thailand because they can’t use a pink card, so they have to go to labour officials in Thailand to be issued a permission letter,” he said.

Moeun Tola, who heads Central (the Centre for Alliance of Labour and Human Rights) – a Cambodian labour-rights group – said the suspension would not stem the flow of Cambodians to Thailand. 

Desperate for decent-paying jobs, many migrants have already chosen to cross the border illegally in order to avoid red tape and administrative costs.

“I think Thai business mostly depends on migrant workers. Even though the Thai government has issued this [suspension] policy, I’m sure Thai businesses will not be happy with it because they depend on a lot of migrant workers – not only from Cambodia, but also from Myanmar and Laos. It is impossible to stop migrant workers [entering Thailand illegally],” he explained.

“To go to Thailand via the legal procedure, it [takes] too long, and also people have to spend a lot of money in terms of recruitment fees or for documents, and so on,” he said.

“People choose to just migrate illegally …. People will keep going, keep going,” he added.